Patiala, Oct. 13 -- Punjab Police on Sunday registered 12 new FIRs against farmers for stubble burning, taking the total number of such cases filed this paddy harvest season to 72, officials said. The farmers have been booked under Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita fordisobedience to an orderduly promulgated by a public servant. According to officials, of the total FIRs registered so far, 26 are from Amritsar and 21 from Tarn Taran - the two worst-affected districts this season. Tarn Taran has reported 25 farm fire incidents so far, of which only 15 have been physically verified by authorities. Paddy straw burning in Punjab and Haryana is one of the reasons behind the alarming spike in air pollution in the National Capital Region in October and November. As the window for rabi crop wheat is very short after the paddy harvest, farmers set their fields on fire to quickly get rid of crop residue for sowing of the next crop. Officials said that 41 "red entries" had been made in the land records of violators, barring them from securing loans or selling and mortgaging their farmland. Additionally, the state has imposed environmental compensation of Rs.3.20 lakh across 65 cases, of which Rs.2.50 lakh has already been recovered. Authorities said field inspections and satellite-based surveillance had been intensified, with directions issued to take prompt action against violators and curb the rising trend of stubble burning in the state. Meanwhile, Punjab on Sunday reported 10 new cases of farm fires, taking the overall tally for the season to 126. Amritsar continues to remain the hotspot with 63 incidents, accounting for more than half of all cases reported across the state. It is followed by Tarn Taran, which has also started witnessing a steady rise in incidents. Other districts, including Patiala, Kapurthala, Sangrur and Barnala, have reported a few scattered cases. Officials said the recent spike in cases was consistent with the seasonal trend, as harvesting of early-maturing paddy varieties was underway. The number of cases was expected to rise in the coming days as farmers clear fields for timely sowing of wheat. The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) begins its annual monitoring of stubble burning on September 15 and continues until November 30. Last year, the state had recorded 10,909 farm fire incidents, with Sangrur topping the list at 1,725 cases....